Roleplay Party Finder Account Suspensions

[Lunalepsy]

I will add one more thing to what I've posted before and it does not apply directly to FF14 only.

I'm always confused how the vast majority of people, not just gamers, but people in general accept violence, drugs, gore, genocide in their media, but god help us if we have anything erotic or straight up sexual in the media.

This. I had a weird argument with someone in my previous FC about guns, and they literally glorified them while vilifying anything straight up sexual.

[LittleImp]

It tends to come down to whether or not said content is a static element of the game itself, or something that players are dynamically creating.

Encountering violence in the story isn't going to phase most people, but if someone was graphically fantasizing about violence in my FC or Linkshell I would probably feel uncomfortable.

In essence, the game itself isn't really capable of aggression, but other players are, whether violent or sexual. The game won't stalk me and relentlessly send me DMs about my Lalafells feet (true story).

"But those people will always exist on games" you might say, which is true, however; When you foster a climate on your game that is welcoming to people who are principally motivated by sexual gratification, you will attract a higher proportion of predators to your game than usual. This has been seen time and time again on other titles that have experienced the unmitigated growth of similar communities.

[milkhorn]

Once again this has divulged more into people's personal opinions. The mobs of people so repulsed and outright rude from adults wanting to interact with other adults, in general and without ERP being the main reason for it. People are always quick to assume that's all RPers want as adults. If we're advertising to cater to other adults, it's not always going to be about ERP.. If you come in with the assumption that adult RPers would only be looking for this then your opinions are going to be skewed. It's easy to condemn us and other venue owners without knowing the entire story of it. We continue to await some sort of interaction from GMs to know if the reason was in fact linking the carrd with suggestive contents in it. If that's the case, then it needs to be known by ANYONE who has a carrd and not just us or the affected venues. We can continue to argue about '18+' being the source of the profanity action, but it continues to be based on assumptions(regardless if you have viewed our carrd or not, it doesn't explain the fact that people who have no such tag in their advertisement or information in their carrd). There is no need to be needlessly nasty about it to other players on either side no matter your view point.

In the same vein, I am appreciative to those who are actually attempting to figure out what the issue is and to avoid it in the future. It is still concerning that it happened all at once to multiple people when we've gone again, a whole year of advertising the same way and had faced nothing so we were assuming we were doing nothing wrong.. That's why it's such an issue that the severe punishment was the first punishment.. and the lack of communication is rather frustrating on the GM standpoint, but the experiences of other people in unrelated types of reports shows that it's not just this issue but any consequence that players receive.

[Imora]

since RP and ERP is not officially gameplay, that would be a stretch.

More of the act of entrapment.

it's called a honeypot, and is technically illegal.

[Rinhi]

"yadda yadda it's you guys who are wrong, you just don't get it etc etc it definitely can't be about the obvious ERP stuff on our carrd that we directly linked in the PF, nope"

take the ERP stuff out of the carrd and I can guarantee you, you won't get banned, plus, painting a 3 day as 'severe punishment' is pretty weird, considering it's on the very low end of days banned for a first offence in every game with a multiple strike system

[Kes13a]

More of the act of entrapment.

it's called a honeypot, and is technically illegal.

again, a stretch. for that the GM would have to be able to read minds. The GM would have to read messages prior to the reporter going to the venue, and talking specifically about being solicited for the purposes of reporting. but since its more likely they would decide to do that without communicating intentions to their FC or whomever, it then becomes one persons word against the other. when it gets to that point, you have a venue advertising 18+ with linked activities which include such things, the evidence points to the report being "accurate"

[kejakalope]

More of the act of entrapment.

it's called a honeypot, and is technically illegal.

GMs are not police and being banned from the game is not a form of legal prosecution.

[Reinha]

We continue to await some sort of interaction from GMs to know if the reason was in fact linking the carrd with suggestive contents in it. If that's the case, then it needs to be known by ANYONE who has a carrd and not just us or the affected venues. We can continue to argue about '18+' being the source of the profanity action, but it continues to be based on assumptions

You can wait all you want but a confirmation is not coming your way. I'm not personally interested in whether or not your community thrives or gets banned, but if you care about it, it would be wise to heed the advice given by several people in the thread. Maybe you could even spread awareness yourself.

Lose the 18+ disclaimer. Lose the mentions of ERP and suggestive photos in the venue's website. Make sure that anything you advertise is suitable to be viewed by minors. If your customers/employees are inclined to only roleplay with adults, they should confirm the age and consent of whoever they are role-playing with and not simply trust an age limit. And just like it is with pve carry services, let the interested customer ask around if the service is available and don't advertise it where everyone can see it.

[Floortank]

Once again this has divulged more into people's personal opinions. The mobs of people so repulsed and outright rude from adults wanting to interact with other adults, in general and without ERP being the main reason for it. People are always quick to assume that's all RPers want as adults. If we're advertising to cater to other adults, it's not always going to be about ERP.. If you come in with the assumption that adult RPers would only be looking for this then your opinions are going to be skewed. It's easy to condemn us and other venue owners without knowing the entire story of it. We continue to await some sort of interaction from GMs to know if the reason was in fact linking the carrd with suggestive contents in it. If that's the case, then it needs to be known by ANYONE who has a carrd and not just us or the affected venues. We can continue to argue about '18+' being the source of the profanity action, but it continues to be based on assumptions(regardless if you have viewed our carrd or not, it doesn't explain the fact that people who have no such tag in their advertisement or information in their carrd). There is no need to be needlessly nasty about it to other players on either side no matter your view point.

In the same vein, I am appreciative to those who are actually attempting to figure out what the issue is and to avoid it in the future. It is still concerning that it happened all at once to multiple people when we've gone again, a whole year of advertising the same way and had faced nothing so we were assuming we were doing nothing wrong.. That's why it's such an issue that the severe punishment was the first punishment.. and the lack of communication is rather frustrating on the GM standpoint, but the experiences of other people in unrelated types of reports shows that it's not just this issue but any consequence that players receive.

1) Stop including all the people you claim were banned for no reason in your story. They aren't here. Stop sorting your problem in with the problems of people who may or may not even exist who are clearly innocent according to you.
2) Less than a year ago Square-Enix clarified its prohibited activities document, and it explicitly includes a definition of ERP that puts your venue far in excess of what the prohibition allows. Furthermore, SE reserves the right to take action against people based on the content of their website.

Harassment, Obscene/Indecent Expression, section 3, paragraph 4 states:

"Please note that Square Enix may issue a penalty at its discretion even if a report has not been filed but the act was found being conducted in public areas such as Say and Shout, search comments, Party Finder, on online video/streaming services, if the behavior is found to violate real world laws, or if it may be considered a problem based on the game's entertainment board ratings."

3) People are not expressing conjecture over an unclear policy that we have no information about. We are discussing the exact reason your compeers got banned based on the rules as written here.
4) People disagreeing with you are not nasty and abusive.

It sucks that your very creative venue got busted, but it's featuring content that is too risqué for the game environment allowed by Square-Enix. You may feel that a first time offense should not warrant an account suspension, and I think you have an argument there. As for the rest, it's plain as day why your friends got an account strike.

[Shibi]

I will add one more thing to what I've posted before and it does not apply directly to FF14 only.

I'm always confused how the vast majority of people, not just gamers, but people in general accept violence, drugs, gore, genocide in their media, but god help us if we have anything erotic or straight up sexual in the media.

When you say "vast majority of people" we likely need to geographically isolate that to only certain countries. In world-wide media there is far more eroticism, sexual activity, even full frontal nudity than your average North American server player likely considers possible.

Although, with the cancerous growth of Social Media and all its evils, the "sickness must be purged" threat is slowly starting to spread and replace the previous more open attitudes with Authoritarianism and Puritanism.